Imperial Army
The Imperial Army is the military arm of the Imperia, as well as the largest and most powerful (excepting maybe the Army of Champions) ground force this side of the Realm. The IA is divided into eight branches, one for every imperial province and the High Guard, each of which is further subdivided into infantry, cavalry, artillery, rangers, intelligence, and mages. Each province's section is nominally commanded by the respective High King, who is in turn responsible for recruiting, training, outfitting, and organizing their section with the High Guard being commanded by the Emperor . In truth, due to the fractious nature of Imperial politics and the fact that the IA is sworn to duty in service of the Imperia itself rather than any particular province, each province is assigned a high general by the IA Council who shares the duties of the High King both to keep the High Kings from keeping the IA from performing its duties keeping to its mandate as well due to the fact that some High Kings prefer to devote their time and coin to their own provincial militias rather than to the IA. Duties When not actively engaged, the IA's primary duties are the securing of the Imperia's borders and the internal regulations of peace. From guarding major trade routes and fairy roads to settling local border skirmishes, the IA keeps garrisons all over the Imperial allowing it surprising speed and mobility in deployment. The IA also keeps garrisons in several non-Imperial lands, frequently in conjunction with embassies, but more to the point, wherever they can manage to put one without calling the locals down on them. As such, the Imperia's already impressive reach is extended, as well as kept apprise of foreign situations. Recruitment and Training Recruitment varies from province to province, some require fixed levies and let local rulers meet the quotas however they see fit, others use military service as a means of sentence commutation. By and large though, enlistment remains the most popular and usually only necessary source of troops, being for many surest route out of their small town. Though recruitment stations do exist in many major cities, most enlist at a garrison, although strictly speaking, all that is required is a commanding officer to take your oath. The exception to this are mages, who must enlist through a registered mages guild and pass a proficiency exam. After joining the IA, according to doctrine, a new recruit will go through a six month training regime designed to give all troopers a shared knowledge of basic military procedure, a minimum level of fitness and to ascertain and develop any skills or abilities of use to the IA. In practice, many are a veteran soldier who will tell you about how five minutes after swearing their oath, a sword and shield were shoved in their hands and they were thrown against an overwhelming foe. Regardless, the IA does maintain several training garrisons throughout the Imperia. Equipment Much like training, the IA has an official kit that encompasses all that a trooper should need for his job. Similarly, how much of it a soldier will actually be issued is largely subject to where, when, and which unit a soldier enlists with. While a full kit includes a uniform of sturdy pants, shirt, and boots, armour appropriate to a soldier's specific role, a pack with mess kit, a tent, blanket, a belt knife, shield, weapon, and a duty and official cloak, all that is absolutely required be issued to every soldier is their weapon and duty cloak. While this seems like little, one must consider the value of a standard issue weapon and Imperial Army Cloak. The duty version of the cloak comes in four colours: black, charcoal, brown, and moss, all with the Imperial Dragon on the back in green, except for the moss cloak's, which is black. Each cloak is enchanted with a number of useful features from a weatherproofing that makes it an oilcloak in the rain, becomes super insulating in the cold and cools the wearer in the heat. Also, each cloak has a modest protection enchantment, making it as tough as boiled leather armour as well. Perhaps the most tactically brilliant feature is that each cloak can be tuned to Order Stones, that allow commanders to speak and be heard by anyone wearing a cloak tuned to that particular stone. The magick of these cloaks wears off after a few years and requires a recharge by a qualified IA Mage. The ceremonial version lacks the ability to be tuned to command stones, but instead has spells that render the immaculate white cloak with red Imperial Dragon impervious to stain, and actually glow slightly making soldiers in ceremonial regalia that much more impressive. As for weapons, an army issued blade is always at least as good as one made by the best weaponsmith in a mid-sized city which is more than most city guards can say. Organization Due to the vastness of the Imperia, every element of the IA is trained and expected to work fairly autonomously, with the ability to make active and productie decisions without command looking over your shoulder being highly prized. That said there is a firm and known hierarchy so that the IA iscapable of responding quickly, efficiently, and more importanly in synch to any problem that may arise. The army as a whole is commanded by the Emperor and the IA council, which is made up of the seven High Generals of each province. After this, ranks begin to differ according to which province one is in. Suppoosing there exists enough garrisons to warrant it, each region within a province will be overseen by an Over General. Each garrison is commanded by a General, who in turn divides their garrison into platoons led by a commander. Each platoon is broken into squads led by Sergeants, with soldier being the rank of all subordinate soldiers. Dependingon region, custom, organizational needs, and sheer numbers, intermediary ranks may exist, but army wide, High General, Over General, General, Commander, Sergeant, and Soldier are the primary ranks.